1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a telephone capable of receiving a caller's telephone number in a caller-ID signal or by some other method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Application (KOKAI) No. SHO-57-23354 describes a telephone capable of storing data representing telephone numbers or names of parties frequently called by the user of the telephone. When the user indicates a desire to place a telephone call to one of these parties, the corresponding telephone number and the like are displayed on a display such as an LCD of the telephone. The user selects the party he or she wishes to call and the telephone automatically calls the selected telephone number.
As a prevention of prank calls, telephone switchboards in the United States provide a service to subscribers wherein callers' telephone numbers are displayed on a liquid crystal display (LCD) of the subscriber's telephone before the recipient of the incoming call picks up the handset. In order to provide this service, a switchboard transmits an FSKed (i.e., subjected to frequency shift keying) signal with a caller-ID number along with the ringing signal. The caller-ID number includes the telephone number of the caller's remote telephone. When the recipient receives the caller-ID number, the caller's telephone number is displayed on the LCD.
Those caller-ID numbers that a user receives while not at home can be stored in list form. In this case, upon returning home, the user can conveniently call one of the telephone numbers by selecting a desired one from the list in the manner described in Japanese Patent Application (KOKAI) No. SHO-57-23354. When telephone numbers are automatically stored in this manner, a user need not dial the telephone number of the desired party, but need merely select the desired party from the list, whereupon the telephone will automatically dial the desired telephone number.